Toilet Seats

Toilet seats wear out long before the pan does. Hinges loosen, the buffers perish, and the finish crazes and discolours. Replacing one is a ten minute job that visibly improves a bathroom for very little money.

The critical part is measuring correctly, because seats are not universal and the returns are avoidable. Measure three things on your existing pan. First, the distance between the centres of the two fixing holes at the back. Second, the overall length from the fixing holes to the front of the bowl. Third, the maximum width across the bowl. Those three dimensions determine what fits.

Also check the bowl shape. A D-shape pan, which has a squared-off back edge, will not take a seat made for a traditional round or oval bowl and vice versa. This is the single most common mistake we see, because the difference is not obvious until the seat is in your hands.

Soft close is worth the small premium. It stops the lid slamming, which is what eventually cracks a seat and loosens the fixings. Quick release seats lift off the hinge pins entirely for cleaning, which makes a genuine difference to how hygienic a toilet stays, particularly in a family bathroom.

If you are unsure what you have, photograph the pan from above with a tape measure across the bowl and send it through.